Beating the Odds: A Boyhood Under Nazi-Occupied France [Hardcover]

M. D. George M. Burnell (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 396 pages
• Publisher: Authorhouse (September 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1403351414
• ISBN-13: 978-1403351418
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,253,646 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Huckleberry George, May 4, 2003

By 

art anderson (Saratoga, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beating the Odds: A Boyhood Under Nazi-Occupied France (Hardcover)

A young boy wanders from one vivid experience to another to another, just like kids do. His childhood had unique exposures to Nazi terror and horror, to be sure. But throughout those grim days, there remained that irrepressible insouciance of youth. There was even hero worship when he became involved with the French underground. He brings us right along with him as he becomes a man.

This author described what was, more than anything else, a normal, adventuresome boyhood. Although I was expecting something more like "The Diary of Anne Frank", this book was more reminiscent of "Huckleberry Finn".

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Living in Nazi-Occupied France, February 27, 2003

By 

Robin Anawalt (Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beating the Odds: A Boyhood Under Nazi-Occupied France (Hardcover)

Seeped into the depths of war and dispair of mankind, Dr. Burnell takes us on a journey through Nazi-occupied France during WWII. As opposed to the atrocities of holocaust victims in that same era, we are instead introduced into the lives of the common citizenry as they struggle through each day not knowing who is friend or foe. Dr. Burnell's family must decide when to run and when to stay; while knowing their decisions set them at risk to lose everything, including their lives. Balanced with historical facts, Dr. Burnell tells a tale that has us turning the pages, immersing us into the joys and sorrows of a family that in the end prevails despite their losses and succeeds in spite of the tragedy brought by war.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beating the Odds reviewed, February 6, 2003

By 

Stephen A. Ugelow (Honolulu, HI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beating the Odds: A Boyhood Under Nazi-Occupied France (Hardcover)

Dr. Burnell tells a story of fear, brutality, resourcefulness, courage, and sensitivity. These emotions are the backdrop to his autobiographical tale of growing from just-past-childhood to near-adulthood in Nazi-occupied France during WW 2. Burnell describes how he and his mother survived the relentless threat of the Nazis as they fled from city to city in France just barely ahead of the Nazi persecution. From Strasbourg in the eastern part of the country to Paris to Bordeaux and finally to Lyon in the south. Along the way his stepfather was consumed by the Holocaust and by the end Burnell was fighting back by working for the French Resistance. The writing is clear, personal, and carries the read along swiftly. I could barely put it down- thus I read it in just a few nights.